Norwegian election will mean change of Government but unlikely to mean change of direction in country's relations with EU, says European Parliament's Norway delegation President

5.35.17pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 8th Sep 2005

Latest polls ahead of Norway's General Election on September 12th show that Labour Leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is odds-on to become the new Prime Minister. In the past Stoltenberg, a pro-European, has said that EU membership would put an end to the absurd situation where Norway is forced to comply with most Union legislation and pay €180 million a year into the EU but has no power to shape its policies.

However, the polls also show that the Labour Party will not rule alone and that it will need to rely on support from their likely coalition partners, the Left Socialists and the mainly agrarian Centre Party, both Euro-sceptical.

Diana Wallis MEP, President of the European Parliament's Delegation to Norway, said in advance of next week's poll:

"It is clear that the polls are saying there will be a change of Government in Norway but, because of the nature of the coalition likely to be in place post-poll, there will be no new referendum in Norway on EU membership. This is despite the likely new Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, an ardent pro-European being very critical of the relationship Norway has with the EU (interesting when this is a relationship favoured by some Conservative politicians in the UK!)."

"For this reason the issue of EU membership in Norway will not go away. The Norwegian people themselves will want another opportunity to vote on EU membership over the next few years as opinion polls continue to indicate."